50 countries vow to fight cybercrime – why U.S. and Russia don’t

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French President Emmanuel Macron, right, meets Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the Paris Peace Forum in Paris, Sunday, Nov.11, 2018. International leaders attended a ceremony in Paris on Sunday at mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. (Thomas Samson, Pool via AP)

PARIS — Fifty nations and over 150 tech companies are pledging to do more to fight criminal activity on the internet, including interference in elections and hate speech. But the United States, Russia and China are not among them.

The group of governments and companies pledge in a signed document to work together to prevent malicious activities like online censorship and the theft of trade secrets.

The declaration released Monday is supported by EU countries, Japan and Canada as well as tech giants Facebook, Google and Microsoft, among others.

French President Emmanuel Macron had pushed for the initiative, whose unveiling comes a day after dozens of world leaders gathered in Paris on Sunday for the centenary of the end of World War One.

Looters who managed to make off with iPhones stolen from Apple stores during the days of civil unrest and rioting over the past week are likely to be in for a surprise before they even try to make a single call.